Though his football playing days are over, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current CBS analyst Tony Romo is still picking up wins on Sundays.
Romo won the celebrity golf American Century Championship for the third time on Sunday, defeating former MLB player Mark Mulder and the Dallas Stars’ Joe Pavelski with a 5-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff.
They played the 18th hole twice, with Romo emerging the champion after the second trip down the 18th at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Nevada. All three finished regulation tied at 62 points in the Modified Stableford scoring system.
Romo birdied the par-5 18th in regulation to earn three points and give him a total of 25 points on Sunday to move into a tie for the lead. Mulder had 17 points Sunday, and Pavelski had 27. Pavelski would have been only the second active NHL player to win the tournament after Mario Lemieux won it in 1998.
It was the first three-way playoff in tournament history and the fifth playoff overall. Last year, former NBA player and head coach Vinny Del Negro defeated former MLB player John Smoltz in a playoff.
Romo previously won the tournament at Edgewood Tahoe in 2018 and 2019. He had four birdies and a bogey on Sunday to complete the come-from-behind win.
“I had to keep patient,” Romo said. “Coming from behind is a great feeling. All the wins here are special, but this one was different because my boys are 10 and 8 years old, and they were into it. They were so nervous. They were following me around, and they were like, ‘Let’s go, Dad. Come on. If you do this, we have a chance. He’s like, You could finish third if you keep playing good, Dad.'”
“Afterwards, he’s like, ‘I did not think you could do better than third. This is crazy.’ I was like, I know. You don’t get to eat ice cream tonight out of the trophy then, son,” Romo added.
The overall purse was $600,000, with $125,000 going to the winner. However, Romo donated his prize money to South Lake Tahoe charities. The tournament has raised $6 million for charity over the years.
The former Cowboys quarterback had no time to soak in the victory as he is competing in a U.S. Amateur qualifying event that began Monday in Texas.
Mulder had previously won the American Century three consecutive times from 2015-17. He held the lead after the first two days and for most of Sunday but said that playing too conservatively cost him the victory.
“I wasn’t nervous, I wasn’t scared, I wasn’t anything. I had a lead. I just played very conservative, unfortunately. It’s as simple as that,” Mulder said.
Retired professional golfer Annika Sorenstam and current NFL player for the Minnesota Vikings, Adam Thielen, finished tied for fourth at the tournament with 58 points.
The American Century Championship is a celebrity golf tournament first played in 1990. The only non-professional athlete to ever win the event is actor Jack Wagner, who won in 2006 and 2011.
